Why there is no much joy during UN's 80th birthday celebrations

Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres makes his speech during the Africa climate summit 2023 Day Two at KICC on September 05, 2023. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

It is 80 years since the creation of the United Nations in 1945, when most African countries were European colonial possessions. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, an admirer of Woodrow Wilson and his League of Nations experiment, actually laid the foundation for a post-World War II organisation that would be stronger than the League.

Since the major weakness of the League of Nations was the absence of major powers - the United States by choice and the Soviet Union by exclusion - Roosevelt crafted a body to safeguard the interests of the big powers. He created the UN Security Council, whose five permanent members were each, through veto power, protected from global democracy. He died and left Vice President Harry S. Truman to nurture the new world body. The UN has decided to celebrate its 80 years of existence, although the celebrations are low-key.